BishopAccountability.org
	Appeals Court Rejects Ex-Nun's Bias Claims against Pa. College By Joe Mandak Associated Press, carried in Belleville News-Democrat October 12, 2006 http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/state/15736743.htm Pittsburgh - A federal appeals court is standing by its decision to strike down sexual discrimination claims brought by a former nun who said she was forced to resign from her job at a Catholic university after helping to expose a priest's alleged misconduct. The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia had ruled last month that the "ministerial exception" barred it from considering claims by Lynette Petruska against Gannon University, a private Catholic school in Erie. Under the ministerial exception, courts avoid deciding legal disputes between religious institutions and clergy to protect the rights of denominations to govern their affairs according to their beliefs. Petruska had wanted all the judges on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear her case. On Tuesday, she was notified the court denied her request. Petruska, the first woman chaplain at Gannon, sued claiming she was demoted in 2002 and forced to resign because of her gender, and because she helped expose an alleged cover-up involving a priest who took a leave of absence due to an alleged affair with a woman. Petruska, now working as an attorney in St. Louis, said Wednesday she plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal. "We will continue to pursue this case because whether a religious employer is above the law is an important question that should be resolved by the Supreme Court," Petruska said. Petruska said her case is especially important in times when the church is responding to charges of sexual abuse by priests. In her former position on campus, Petruska said she would have been required by law to report any abuse evidence she came across. "Under the law, I'm a mandated reporter. But if I do that, the church can fire me and there's not a thing I can do about it, and that's scary," Petruska said. Although the decision largely gutted her lawsuit, the court said Petruska could continue to pursue a breach of contract claim charging that Gannon administrators prevented her from performing the chaplain duties to which she had been assigned. The court allowed that claim to stand because it found the contractual relationship to be "voluntary," and not directly related to the school and church's ministerial oversight of her. Gannon officials referred questions to attorney Evan Rudert of Erie, who did not immediately return calls for comment. The 3rd Circuit had twice ruled on Petruska's case. After a federal judge in Erie threw out Petruska's lawsuit in December 2004, citing the ministerial exception, she appealed. Last May, a 3rd U.S. Circuit panel voted 2-1 to overturn that ruling, saying the "ministerial exception" applies only to employment decisions driven by religious beliefs. However, because Circuit Judge Edward R. Becker died four days before the majority opinion was filed, the court agreed to let a different three-judge panel hear new arguments. That panel unanimously ruled in September that the ministerial exception applies to any legal claim involving a clergy and their denomination. "Today, we join seven of our sister circuits in adopting the exception and hold that it applies to any claim, the resolution of which would limit a religious institution's right to choose who will perform particular spiritual functions," Circuit Judge D. Brooks Smith wrote.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.